Less than two years since the release of his first album, ‘New Stile’, South London’s Conus sp. Bent teases his sophomore offering with its first single, ‘Like a Dog’. Playful and nostalgic, the deceptively simple track elegises the loss of a beloved dog, touching on the idea that you never quite know what’s ticking over in someone’s mind.
The song opens with twee guitar lines that meander like a long walk in the countryside – one that inevitably results in a trip to the pub at the end, as the track becomes more unpredictable as it progresses. Melodies like citrus bursts, sharp and sweet, are layered on top of one another, the sound becoming richer whilst keeping one muddy boot stuck in a simple, reflective mode. By the end of the song, its layers have built up like sediment in the earth, through which we dig like dogs to unearth the nugget of emotion at its core. It’s an exercise in understanding one another as much as it is a mediation on the impossibility of that same thing.
Both sweet and restless, ‘Like a Dog’ heralds Conus sp. Bent’s second album, ‘To Within an Inch’, which promises further storytelling and the singer’s signature brand of eclectic musicianship.
Photo by Ike Gray
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